JP2000059728A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To specify an image by means of a display, even if the correspondence relation between a frame number and an image before deletion is different from that after the deletion owing to image elimination by allowing a displaying means to display information including a frame number, corresponding to each image and a file name or a part of information of the file name as well as the image. SOLUTION: A user depresses a frame feeding button to make a displaying means show a frame number FR 2 (DISC0002 of file name FN) from among images stored in a storing means under the control of an MPU. The MPU deletes the frame number FR 2 from the storing means in accordance with the depression of an deletion button, based on user's desire and successively advances the next image to prevent a frame number FR from being a missing number. Consequently, the user can decide that three images are stored in the storing means by locking at frame numbers FR of the displaying means. In this way, since the relation of a file name FN and a frame number FR is different prior to the deletion and after the deletion it is possible to easily specify an image.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic camera, and more particularly, to an electronic camera capable of displaying information on an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the improvement of electronic technology, an electronic camera that converts a captured image into digital data and stores it has been developed and is already on the market. A user can display an image captured by an electronic camera on, for example, a display of his / her personal computer, and can print the image via a printer, so that the application range is wide.

[0003]

For example, image data obtained by taking an image with an electronic camera is temporarily stored in a recording medium such as a memory card, but can be called up as an image at any time via a built-in liquid crystal monitor. Has become. The memory card generally has a storage capacity large enough to store image data of 20 or more images. Therefore, the user normally stores image data for a plurality of images on one memory card.

[0004] By the way, an electronic camera which displays a frame number that goes up by one in the order of imaging together with the captured image is already on the market. On the other hand, electronic cameras in which an image signal corresponding to an image is stored with a unique file name added thereto are already commercially available. In such an electronic camera, a user can select and display a specific image based on a frame number or a file name, for example, on the electronic camera or a personal computer. Therefore, in the electronic camera according to the related art, either the frame number or the file name is displayed together with the image, thereby facilitating the user in selecting the image.

On the other hand, since the capacity of the memory card is limited as described above, there are cases where only useful images are required to be stored. Therefore, an electronic camera according to the related art is provided with an erase button, and a user can select and erase a specific image (that is, an image signal) by operating the erase button. .

However, regarding the above frame numbers,
Since it is easier for the user to use a series of numbers, even if the corresponding image is deleted, the number is not skipped even if the corresponding image is deleted. Instead, the images after the deleted image are sequentially carried forward. On the other hand, since the file name is unique to the image signal, when the corresponding image is deleted, the file name is also deleted, and the same file name is not used in principle. Therefore, by deleting the image, the correspondence between the frame number and the file name is shifted, which may cause confusion for the user.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the related art, and has as its object to provide an electronic camera which is convenient for a user in specifying an image.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic camera according to the present invention has been made, and a first invention is to capture an image of a subject and output an image signal corresponding to the image. Image capturing means, storage means for storing a file name for each image corresponding to the image signal output by the image capturing means, and displaying the image based on the image signal stored in the storage means. Display means, wherein the display means displays, together with each image, a frame number and a file name corresponding to the image. According to a second aspect of the present invention, an image pickup means for picking up a subject image and outputting an image signal corresponding to the image, and storing a file name for each image corresponding to the image signal output by the image pickup means Storage means, and display means for displaying an image based on the image signal stored in the storage means, wherein the display means includes, with each image, a frame number corresponding to the image and the file name. An electronic camera displaying information including at least a part of information of the electronic camera.

[0009]

According to the electronic camera of the present invention, the display means displays, along with each image, a frame number corresponding to the image and a file name or information including information on at least a part of the file name. Therefore, even if the correspondence between the frame number before erasure and the image becomes different from that after erasure by erasing the image, for example, the user can easily see the display means, An image can be specified.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the electronic camera according to the present embodiment. FIG.
The photoelectric conversion means 2 as an imaging means, in which an optical image is formed on the light receiving surface by the photographing lens 1, performs so-called photoelectric conversion for converting an optical image of a subject into a corresponding charge amount. The / D conversion device 3 includes the photoelectric conversion unit 2
Is converted into a digital signal and output. The image data obtained via the A / D conversion circuit 3 is temporarily stored in the image memory 4.

The image data stored in the image memory 4 is subjected to various types of image processing by the MPU 5 and finally stored in a storage means 6 such as a memory card connected to the MPU 5. The MPU 5 has a power supply 7 such as a built-in battery.
And an image signal can be transmitted to an external personal computer or the like via the interface device 8. Further, the MPU 5 receives a release signal from the release button 10 and drives a shutter device (not shown) to perform imaging. Further, since the storage means 6 is constituted by a removable memory from the camera, the recorded image data can be read by directly inserting it into the interface of the personal computer in a state of being saved as a data file for each image. It is. FIG. 4 illustrates a case where image data recorded by an electronic camera according to the present invention is read by a personal computer. As shown in FIG. 4, the interface device 8 of the electronic camera and the personal computer are connected by a cable to transfer the image data, or the storage means 6 such as a memory card is directly inserted into the interface of the personal computer, so that In this case, each image data is displayed as an image file with a file name.

Further, the MPU 5 controls the driving of a display means 9 such as a liquid crystal monitor to display an image. The MPU 5 is connected to the display operation system 11 and reads out an image signal from the storage means 6 and displays it on the display means 9 in response to the pressing of the reproduction button 11a. Further, in response to the pressing of the frame advance button 11c, the MPU 5 advances the displayed image by frame in the forward or reverse direction, and in response to the pressing of the erase button 11b, the image signal corresponding to the displayed image. Is deleted from the storage means 6.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display means 9. A display mode according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. First, four images [FIG. 2 (a-1) to FIG. 2 (a-
4)) is taken as an image. The image signal corresponding to each image has a unique file name (DSC0001 to DSC0001).
0004) and stored in the storage means 6.

Here, a user who wants to view the captured image may press the play button 11a. As a result, the MPU 5 of the electronic camera displays the first captured image (FIG. 2 (a-1)) on the screen of the display unit 9. In addition, the MPU 5 displays a file name FN on the upper left of the screen as information on the image, and displays the date D
T and time TM are displayed at the upper right of the screen, display mode MD (FIN means high image quality mode) is displayed at the lower center of the screen,
R is displayed at the lower right of the screen together with the image. Note that the frame number is not stored in correspondence with each image, but is a value obtained by counting the number of images stored in the storage unit 6 in the form of image signals in time series. In the present embodiment, an example in which the file name FN is displayed together with the image will be described. However, information including at least a part of the file name may be displayed together with the image. For example, FIG.
As shown in (1), information of a part of the file name FN may be used. Thus, when the file name is long or the like, it is possible to suppress the hindrance of the visual recognition of the image due to the file name occupying the display area of the image display means. Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, information of a part of the file name FN may be displayed by adding other contents to the information or by partially changing the information. Various information can be added or changed. For example, when photographing is performed using a plurality of image recording memories, the ID of each memory is used.
By adding information to a part of the information of the file name FN, it is possible to easily specify an image from a plurality of memories.

Further, when the user presses the frame advance button 11c, the screen of the display means 9 is displayed as shown in FIG.
2 to (a-4) are sequentially switched to display an image for each frame. Fig. 2 (a-4)
When the frame advance button 11c is further pressed in the forward direction from the screen shown in FIG. 2, the screen returns to that shown in FIG. 2 (a-1). That is, according to the present embodiment, the user can input the file name FN displayed together with the image.
Or, by looking at the frame number FR, for example, an image taken before or after that can be estimated to some extent. The file name is usually used when an image signal is read out by a personal computer or the like, and the frame number is usually used by an electronic camera to grasp the number of the image taken from the beginning.

By the way, if the image is not erased, FIG.
As shown in (a-1) to FIG. 2 (a-4), both the file name FN and the frame number FR are counted up one by one according to the number of captured images in a state where there are no missing numbers. Is set. However, there are cases where the user desires to erase the image.

For example, it is assumed that the user wants to delete the image of frame number 2 (file name DSC0002). In this case, the user presses the frame advance button 11c to display the screen shown in FIG. 2A-2, and then presses the delete button 11b to delete the image of the frame number 2 from the storage means 6. Becomes However, if the frame number is omitted in accordance with the erasure of the image, it is impossible to know how many images are stored in the storage means 6, and the user may be confused.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, when an image is deleted, the next image is sequentially moved up so that the frame number is not lost. For example, FIG.
The images displayed on the screens shown in 3) and 2 (a-4) are the same as the images displayed on the screens shown in FIGS. 2 (b-2) and 2 (b-3), respectively. , And the frame number is incremented by one. Therefore, the user can determine that three images are currently stored in the storage means 6 by looking at the frame numbers. In addition, in response to the image deletion, the MPU 5 performs a quick search for the image stored as the image signal in the storage unit 6 and newly counts up, so that the frame number can be quickly increased.

On the other hand, if the frame number is increased by one at a time, the relationship between the file name FN and the frame number FR is broken, but as described above, the file name is usually used on the personal computer side and the frame number is used. Since is used on the electronic camera side, no major confusion is expected. Also,
It is theoretically possible to reassign the file names in ascending order, but in that case, all the stored image signals must be read out and newly updated, which takes time and is considered impractical.

Further, the MPU 5 counts the time since the frame advance button 11c is no longer pressed, and stops displaying the file name FN, the date DT, and the time TM when the time exceeds 3 seconds. ing. Thereby,
The information displayed on the screen of the display means 9 is reduced so that the user does not hinder viewing the image. Also in this case, the frame number FR is not hidden, so that the user can immediately recognize the number of the currently viewed image. Also, the mode name MD is not hidden, thereby facilitating the user's convenience.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an electronic camera and a printer according to another embodiment. The electronic camera 20 is connected to a printer 40 via a cable 30. The electronic camera 20 has a liquid crystal monitor 21 and a printer 40.
Has a liquid crystal display panel 41 capable of displaying only characters or numbers.

According to the present embodiment, the electronic camera 20
Can transmit frame number information to the printer 40 together with an image signal via the cable 30. The printer 40 prints an image on an image forming medium P such as paper based on the transmitted image signal.

Here, when the printer 40 selects and prints a specific image, information necessary for the user to specify the image is input to the liquid crystal display panel 4 of the printer 40.
1 must be displayed. However, since the file name is unique to the image, when a large number of images are deleted and newly imaged, the number included in the file name corresponding to the image also increases. Become.
Therefore, for example, as a file name,
Even if SC1121 is displayed, the user cannot immediately specify the image.

On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, electronic camera 20 also transmits information on the frame number together with the image signal, while printer 40 transmits the frame number (6 in FIG. 3) corresponding to the image to be printed. ), The liquid crystal display panel 41
To be displayed. Therefore, the user can immediately recognize that the image to be printed is the sixth image by looking at the display, thereby making it easy to specify the image.

As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments. However, the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the above embodiments, and it is needless to say that modifications and improvements can be made as appropriate. is there. For example, what is not displayed after a lapse of a predetermined time after the frame advance button is not pressed may be a frame number instead of a file name.

[0026]

According to the electronic camera of the present invention, the display means displays, together with each image, a frame number corresponding to the image and a file name or information including at least a part of the file name. Therefore, even if the correspondence between the frame number before erasure and the image becomes different from that after erasure by erasing the image, for example, the user can easily see the display means. The image can be specified at the same time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic camera according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed on a display unit 9;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an electronic camera and a printer according to another embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a case where image data recorded by an electronic camera is read by a personal computer.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image displayed on a display unit 9;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 shooting lens 2 photoelectric conversion means 3 A / D conversion device 4 image memory 5 MPU 6 storage means 7 power supply 8 interface device 9 display means (liquid crystal monitor) 10 release button 11a playback button 11b erase button 11c frame feed button 20 electronic camera 30 cable 40 printer

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject and outputting an image signal corresponding to the image, and storing a file name for each image corresponding to the image signal output by the image pickup means. Means, and display means for displaying an image based on the image signal stored in the storage means, wherein the display means displays, together with each image, a frame number and a file name corresponding to the image. An electronic camera, characterized in that: 2. An image pickup means for picking up a subject image and outputting an image signal corresponding to the image, and storing a file name for each image corresponding to the image signal output by the image pickup means. Means, and display means for displaying an image based on the image signal stored in the storage means, wherein the display means, together with each image, of a frame number corresponding to the image and the file name An electronic camera displaying information including at least a part of information. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an erasing unit for erasing an image signal corresponding to the image; and a changing unit for reassigning the frame number when the image signal is erased by the erasing unit. 3. The electronic camera according to 1 or 2. 4. The electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the display unit hides the file name after a predetermined time has elapsed after displaying the image. 5. The electronic camera according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission unit configured to transmit the frame number to an external device.